Back connecting bar for the no-tools connection of a chair back to a chair seat

ABSTRACT

A back connecting bar by which to enable the quick and easy attachment of a back to the seat of a home or office chair without the use of tools or special skill. By virtue of the foregoing, the back and seat of the chair may be sold disassembled in a compact shipping package and assembled following purchase. The back connecting bar has first and opposite ends that are aligned with one another in the shape of an “L.” The first end of the connecting bar is fixedly connected within and extends outwardly from the chair back. The opposite end of the connecting bar is detachably connected to the bottom of the chair seat by threaded fasteners which extend through holes formed in the opposite end for removable receipt by the seat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a seat and back for a home or office chair that are detachably connected together by way of a back connecting bar without requiring the use of tools or special skill. The chair seat and back can be advantageously shipped disassembled in a compact, space-efficient package so as to reduce shipping costs.

2. Background Art

Articles of furniture have long been shipped in a fully-assembled condition from a manufacturer to a retailer and then carried off by an end user to a home or office. Consequently, such an article of furniture is characteristically bulky, cumbersome and difficult to transport in a space-efficient manner. That is to say, a fully-assembled article of furniture consumes relatively large shipping space during transport by boat, truck, etc. to a retailer. Similarly, the purchaser/end user may need to have available a specially-sized vehicle should he wish to carry a large article of furniture to his home or office. The inefficient shipment of large articles of furniture between the manufacturer and end user often results in inconvenience as well as significantly higher transportation costs which are commonly passed through to the purchaser.

To overcome the aforementioned disadvantages, it is known to ship articles of furniture disassembled. In this case, the end user is typically required to have available and be able to use at least some hand tools provided by the manufacturer in order to complete the furniture assembly. Sometimes, the user may not have the skill required to manipulate the tools and install the hardware which may consequently hinder the user's ability to easily assemble and immediately enjoy his furniture. In other cases, the user may lack time and become frustrated which can result in his failure to complete the assembly altogether. Thus, the article of furniture may remain disassembled and eventually have to be returned to its point of purchase.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a particular article of furniture (e.g., a home or office chair) including a back and seat that are adapted to be shipped and transported disassembled within a compact shipping container so as to minimize shipping costs and then be relatively quickly and easily assembled without requiring special skill or the use of tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general terms, a back connecting bar is disclosed by which a back for a home or office chair can be quickly and easily connected to a seat without the use of tools or special skill. The chair back and chair seat can be shipped and transported disassembled in a compact, space-efficient package to reduce shipping costs.

The back connecting bar has a vertical first end and a horizontal opposite end that are aligned with one another in the shape of an “L.” The vertical first end of the back connecting bar, which is fixedly connected to an internal support located inside the chair back, projects outwardly through a slot in the upholstery or outer covering thereof. The horizontal opposite end of the back connecting bar has a set of holes formed therein for the receipt of a corresponding set of fasteners. Each fastener has a knob at one end and a threaded shank at the opposite end. The seat is first laid upon the horizontal end of the back connecting bar, and the threaded shanks of the fasteners are then inserted upwardly through the holes therein. A rotational force manually applied to the knobs of the fasteners by the user causes the threaded shanks to be received by and detachably connected within threaded holes formed in the bottom of the chair seat. Accordingly, the chair back is attached to the chair seat with the back connecting bar extending therebetween. Other parts, such as a base, can be connected to the back and seat to complete the assembly of the chair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a back connecting bar according to a preferred embodiment of this invention for connecting a chair back to a chair seat without the use of tools or special skill;

FIG. 2 shows the back connecting bar of FIG. 1 connected at one end to the chair back and adapted to be detachably connected at the opposite end to the chair seat;

FIG. 3 shows a set of fasteners to be moved upwardly through the opposite end of the back connecting bar for removable receipt by the chair seat by which the back and seat are attached to one another; and

FIG. 4 shows the bottom of the chair seat with the opposite end of the back connecting bar and a seat plate assembly connected thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A back connecting bar 1 according to a preferred embodiment of this invention is initially described while referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings. As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the back connecting bar 1 enables the quick and easy connection of the back (designated 22 in FIG. 2) to the seat (designated 26) of a home or office chair without the use of tools or special skill. Thus, the connecting bar 1 is ideally suitable for a chair that is sold disassembled in a compact shipping package and assembled following purchase.

The back connecting bar 1 is preferably manufactured from steel, or the like, and has an “L” shape. As will also be explained, a vertical first end 3 of the back bar 1 is initially connected (e.g., bolted) to the back of the chair by the manufacturer. A horizontal opposite end 5 of the bar 1 is to be connected to the seat of the chair during assembly by the user or purchaser. An embossing 7 is shown running along the connecting bar 1 between the vertical and horizontal ends 3 and 5 thereof to maximize strength and rigidity.

A set of holes 9 is formed in the vertical end 3 of the back connecting bar 1 through which to receive a corresponding set of fasteners (e.g., bolts) to permit the bar 1 to be fixedly connected to the chair back such as at an internal plywood back support (not shown). Another set of holes 10 is formed in the horizontal end 5 of the back connecting bar 1 for the receipt of respective fasteners 12 to permit the bar to be detachably connected to the chair seat.

According to the preferred embodiment, each fastener 12 includes a (e.g., molded) knob 14 having wings 16 extending outwardly therefrom. The wings 16 provide an enlarged gripping area for a hand of the user. A threaded shank 18 projects from each knob 14. The threaded shanks 18 of fasteners 12 are moved upwardly through the holes 10 in the horizontal end 5 of the back connecting bar 1 during assembly of the chair.

Referring in this regard to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the vertical end 3 of the back connecting bar 1 is shown projecting downwardly and outwardly from the interior of the back 22 of the chair via a slot 24 formed in the external covering or upholstery. As earlier explained, the vertical end 3 of bar 1 is fixedly connected to the chair back 22 (e.g., at an internal plywood back support lying therewithin). During the no-tools assembly of the back 22 to the seat 26 of the chair, the chair seat 26 is first laid over the horizontal end 5 of the connecting bar 1. The threaded shanks 18 of the fasteners 12 are then pushed upwardly and through the holes 10 formed in the horizontal end 5 into receipt by corresponding axial-aligned threaded holes (also not shown) that are formed in the bottom of the seat 26.

A rotational force applied by the user to each of the fasteners 12 at the wings 16 of the knobs thereof (designated 14 in FIG. 1) causes the threaded shanks 18 of fasteners 12 to rotate into detachable mating engagement with the correspondingly threaded holes in the bottom of the chair seat 26. Accordingly, the chair back 22 will be interconnected to and stand upwardly from the chair seat 26 by way of the back connecting bar 1 (best shown in FIG. 3). It may be appreciated that the foregoing connection is accomplished simply by means of the manual manipulation (i.e., rotation) of the fasteners 12 through the connecting bar 1 and into removable receipt by the seat 26, but without requiring the use of tools or the application of special skill. In this same regard, should it become necessary following assembly to detach the chair back 22 from the chair seat 26, the fasteners 12 are rotated in an opposite direction out of engagement with the seat so as to be removed from the back connecting bar 1.

Turning now to FIG. 4 of the drawings, there is shown the bottom of the chair seat 26 after the chair back 22 and the chair seat 26 are connected to one another by the back connecting bar 1 of this invention in the manner just described. FIG. 4 shows a seat plate assembly 30 that is adapted to be connected to the bottom of seat 26 by the user without the use of tools or special skill. Details of a similar seat plate assembly 30 like that shown in FIG. 4 are available by referring to patent application Ser. No. 12/655,486 filed Jan. 4, 2010. Briefly, the seat plate assembly 30 includes a spring tension adjust knob 32 and a gas cylinder receiver 34 to which a seat lift gas cylinder (not shown) is to be attached to selectively control the elevation and stiffness of the seat 26 above the ground to suit the needs of the user.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the horizontal end 5 of the back connecting bar 1 that is connected to the chair seat 26 overlaps a pair of outstretched legs of the seat plate assembly 30. To enhance the structural integrity of the connecting bar 1, one of the fasteners 12 which is received at the bottom of the seat 26 extends through the overlapping horizontal end 5 and seat plate assembly 30. However, it is to be understood that seat plate assembly 30 forms no part of the present invention. Once the back and seat 22 and 26 are attached to one another, the seat plate assembly 30 at the bottom of the seat 22 is coupled to a base (not shown) to advance a no-tools assembly of the chair. 

1. A combination comprising: a chair back; a chair seat; and a back connecting bar by which said chair back is attached to said chair seat so as to stand upwardly therefrom, said back connecting bar extending from said chair back and adapted to be detachably connected to said chair seat without the use of tools.
 2. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein said back connecting bar has first and opposite ends, said first end being fixedly connected inside said chair back, and said opposite end adapted to be detachably connected to said chair seat without the use of tools.
 3. The combination recited in claim 2, wherein the first and opposite ends of said back connecting bar are aligned with one another in the shape of an “L.”
 4. The combination recited in claim 2, wherein said chair back has an external surface, the first end of said back connecting bar extending outwardly from said chair back through said external surface via a slot formed therein.
 5. The combination recited in claim 2, wherein the opposite end of said back connecting bar is detachably connected to said chair back at the bottom thereof.
 6. The combination recited in claim 2, further comprising at last one fastener extending through the opposite end of said back connecting bar for removable receipt by said chair seat by which said opposite end is detachably connected to said chair seat.
 7. The combination recited in claim 6, wherein the opposite end of said back connecting bar has at least one hole formed therein, said one fastener extending through said opposite end at said one hole thereof.
 8. The combination recited in claim 7, wherein said one fastener has a screw threaded first end to extend through the one hole formed in the opposite end of said back connecting bar for said removable receipt by said chair seat.
 9. The combination recited in claim 8, wherein said one fastener has a knob located at the opposite end thereof, a rotational force applied to said knob in a first direction causing the screw threaded first end of said fastener to move into said removable receipt by said chair seat.
 10. The combination recited in claim 9, wherein a rotational force applied in an opposite direction to the knob of said one fastener causing the screw threaded first end of said fastener to move out of said removable receipt by said chair seat, whereby the opposite end of said back connecting bar is disconnected from said chair seat and said chair back is detached from said chair seat. 